Updated October 11, 2025 at 2:02 AM PDT

It is day 11 of the government shutdown. And on Capitol Hill, there has been almost no sign of progress.

Seven times, lawmakers have filed into the Senate chamber to vote on the same two proposals to reopen the government — one backed by mostly Republicans, the other by Democrats. And seven times, they failed to end the shutdown.

Senators say they aren't even formally negotiating, which begs the question: what are they doing? And what does the stalemate say about the state of the Senate?

"People are really just kind of dug in and everything is hyper-politicized," said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., one of two Democrats voting with Republicans on their short-term spending bill.

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Most Democrats are

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